Bilingual Amish Songbook

A version of a songbook used by Amish at Arthur, Illinois. This photo was sent in by a non-Amish reader; it contains the English translation beneath the German text. Some Amish use hymn books which are variations on the well-known Ausbund.

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That is very clever. I sort of wish that my English Literature book I bought for college was that practical. This format certainly would have made it easier to read something as “foreign” to me as, sadly, Canterbury Tales and Beowulf was. I enjoyed reading them, but I got confused at the footnotes especially when stopping to glance down the page to find out what a word meant. Don’t get me wrong, I love the look and lyricism of Old English, that is why I like the KJV bible, it’s a flowery beautiful language or at least it can be. On the two pages illustrated in the song book, I like the German lettering; it seems to me that German speakers like to use distinct fonts when publishing something. Do you think that is a cultural thing generally, or just something that looks good?

I asked Mark about this hymnal. He said that it is a collection of some of the Ausbund hymns along with hymns that adapt more easily to some of the more modern hymn tunes such as “What a Friend We Have In Jesus.” This hymnal was, Mark thinks, sponsored by the Belle Center Amish Church or at least one like it. This style of German font is not really used in Germany anymore according to Mark. It is an antique font called Fractur German or Gothic German.

Not only Amish and Mennonites sang some of the more modern American hymns in German, like “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” (Wo ist Jesus, mein Verlangen?). Other Pennsylvania Dutch Christians did too. And why not? The Pennsylvania Dutch people are Americans, and both contribute to, and borrow from, American culture! It’s been over forty years since I heard anything like those songs. God bless the “Anabaptists” for keeping our dialect alive!

I attended church in a new order district last Sunday and they use the Leider Sammlung instead of the Ausbund. One question I do have is on the Raber’s price list it has leidersummlung B and also G. What is the difference?